An Introduction to Film Analysis: Technique and Meaning in Narrative Film

by Michael Ryan, Melissa Lenos

An Introduction to Film Analysis combines an introduction to filmmaking technique with rigorous and comprehensive training in film interpretation. Composed in an accessible style yet conversant with the latest, most advanced critical theories and methods, this innovative textbook can be reliably used on both the undergraduate and the graduate level.
The book begins with chapters that familiarize students with the basic components of film technique. It connects technique to meaning and demonstrates, through numerous examples, how particular uses of film technique generate different meanings. Students will learn how films are made and how values are promoted, ideas communicated, and rhetorical arguments advanced through film technique. The second part of the book covers a range of interpretive methods, theories, and concerns. In each section, the author offers a sample reading of a film, followed by an "interpretive exercise" with suggestions for students to use in performing their own film interpretation.


Carefully structured, beautifully written, and illustrated throughout, An Introduction to Film Analysis provides a thorough grounding in the subject for students around the world.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published July 19, 2012

About the author

The author is retired, living near Rochester, NY with his wife. They have one son living in Australia. Four cats and a few ferrets live at home with them where the author writes a blend of lightweight SF & Fantasy leavened with some mystery. Spiced with action, humor and romance, these tales are drawn from a lifetime of memories and wishes.

And a few regrets.

Reviews

[Neil R. Coulter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m grateful to the publisher for giving me access to this book as a possible option for a class I’m planning for next year. I enjoyed reading it. The authors do a great job of conveying the very basics of film analysis and critique to readers with little or no experience. The explanations and sample analyses remain at an entry level, with little technical jargon to beguile readers.

The book first introduces techniques for analysis: composition, camera work, editing, color/light/sound, art direction, narrative/narration, metaphor/structure/character/motif, and film style (realism/expressionism). The authors illustrate these aspects with examples from films, relying heavily on a handful of films: The Best Years of Our Lives, The Shining, Klute, The Conformist, and, especially, Mildred Pierce (never did I imagine I would read so much about Mildred Pierce). The discussions of the films are accompanied by a number of stills from each film, relevant to whatever the authors are describing.

In the second section, the authors use those techniques to give extended close readings of High and Low , The Shining, In the Mood for Love, Vagabond, and Arrival. The final section then presents critical analysis of the following films: Gold Diggers of 1933, The Silence of the Lambs, Working Girl, Mildred Pierce, Falling Downand Get Out, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, and The Searchers. I found this last section really well done. I would gladly use these essays as models for my students in how to take a bigger issue and see how it works out in the context of a film. The authors do an excellent job with these critical essays.

I think I won’t be using this as a textbook for my course, however, and it’s because of the very specific references to films all throughout. While the structure works well for the purpose, the problem is that I don’t want to center my class on the same films that so fascinate these authors. So I will likely take some of the techniques this book uses to teach about film analysis and bring it together with the films that I want to discuss with my students. But I would like to use portions of this book as models for my students’ writing, so we may get a copy or two for reserve shelf in the library. It’s a good book for reference, but too specific in its examples for a sole textbook.

[Jerry Stackhouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sinemayla ilgilenenler için iyi bir kitap olduğunu düşünüyorum. Özellikle örnek verilen filmlerle anlatılan konuların uyumu hoşuma gitti. İzlediğim filmler hakkında farklı bir bakış açısı kazandım bu kitap sayesinde. Keyifle okudum, çok da sevdim.

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting ideas presented in the book but hindered by an obvious liberal bias. Judging by the text, the authors aren’t fans of capitalism, gender norms, conservatives, etc. They mention how Rupert Murdoch controls a large part of the media (Fox News) but fail to mention all the rich who own and control the various liberal media outlets and contribute to NPR which has just as much if not more ideological sway. The chapter where they analyze the silence of the lambs is almost perfect until they shoehorn an absurd interpretation at the end about the killer being the real victim because he’s oppressed in a gender normative world. They also misread apocalypse now as pro American and call it a “very racist film.” The further I got into the book, the more I realized it was just an excuse to push a liberal narrative. For instance, whenever they reference a film they claim pushes a conservative worldview, it’s met with derision, and whenever it pushes a liberal view, they revere it (working girl vs. gold diggers). It would be more helpful if they were a little more balanced and not so laughably far left in their approach. The chapter on ethnic criticism where they analyze falling down sounds like the typical angry cat lady diatribe. They say the film endorses racism just because the character is racist. They say it’s mean and demeaning that the main character makes jokes against a minority character who tries to drive by shoot him. I’m not making this up. In the chapter on political criticism, they argue that conservatives responded to the egalitarian left with fascism and nazism, but fail to mention the atrocities committed under communism and socialism, under the guise of “equality,” only referring to them as “national liberation movements.” I bet the people of North Korea feel very “liberated.” Meritocracy would be such a burden to their lives. The book was published in 2012 so they weren’t yet aware of how much the left would lose all credibility in the coming years. From the chapter on poststructural criticism, “The extra-legality of the Godfather is a metaphor for the authority of individual will in conservative authoritarian political discourse.” Again, they claim the film endorses the “patriarchal” worldview instead of illustrating how power corrupts. Since when is Coppola a conservative? This form of criticism is highly rhetorical in one direction and is more a manifesto of liberal ideas than an “introduction to film analysis.” Read the first section for a good understanding of film techniques. Read the second section for a good laugh on how bad critics dishonestly “analyze” a film’s meaning to suit their politics.

[Corbin Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a solid read. The first half of the book breaks down several different technical aspects of film from things like art design, camera work, to the editing. The second half of the book focuses more on critical analysis of film. The idea that you can approach film with a new lens every time and how that can provide you with new takeaways each time. Some of the lenses explored in this book being: postcolonial, psychological, and affect theory. If you would like to have your own unique critical stance on a film but are not sure on how to develop one, then this a good guide.

[D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sinema televizyon okuyan öğrenciler ve sinemaya ilgi duyanlar için dolu dolu bir kaynak. Dili çok yalın, sade. Çeşitli filmler ve karakterler üzerinden örneklendirme yaparak konulara ve kuramlara yaptığı açıklayıcı anlatımlar başarılı ve yol gösterici nitelikte. Kalın olduğundan ve ders kitabı özelliklerine sahip olduğundan dolayı okuması kolay olsa da, bitirmesi uzun vakit alıyor. Fakat hiç yormuyor okuru.

[Paschalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plain language intro on how to view film both technically and on the level of meaning

[Ünal İpekçioğlu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a real masterpiece. Everyone who loves and wanna understand the magic of the cinema should read , read , and read this book.

[emilia borg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad for a textbook

[M.R.K M.R.K · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was decent for a general review of movies analysis and cinematic effects. However, I would have appreciated it more if there was further explanation in which related to setting cinematic scenes. Regardless of the good analytical techniques there are more to say on the camera work than it was mentioned.

[Jeff Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written and descriptive, the book taught me so much about analysing and appreciating films.

[Wéam Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the good ones. Covers a wide range of topics and easily explained with visual examples. Strongly recommended for film studies students and enthusiasts.